Reading

Today is sunny and warm, but not sweltering. I went out and gathered seeds of blackberry lily, northern sea oats, and thistle from the wildflower garden and planted them in the prairie garden. That involved reaching down into tall dry grass, so now I have scratches all over my forearms. :/

Yesterday I watered plants and planted some blue flower bulbs in the goddess garden and wildflower garden.

The squirrels have been out nutting. There are broken walnut hulls all over the yard. I've seen one squirrel on the hopper feeder and several running around the yard. They are fun to watch.

If you're interested, mark the date on your calendar, and please hold actual prompts until the "Poetry Fishbowl Open" post next week. (If you're not available that day, or you live in a time zone that makes it hard to reach me, you can leave advance prompts. I am now.) Meanwhile, if you want to help with promotion, please feel free to link back here or repost this on your blog.

This poem is spillover from the August 15, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "family of choice" square in my 7-31-17 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series, and directly follows "An Atmosphere of Shame."

Warning: This poem is flangst. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. Shiv has trouble relaxing and having fun, due to his history of abuse and neglect, so a beach trip is more complicated for him than for most people. ECR Boy! The poem includes multiple flashbacks, social anxiety, financial anxiety, extreme body modesty, hypervigilance, reference to past near-drowning, emergency manhandling (by Aida of Shiv and by Shiv of Edison), flibbering over acceptance vs. rejection, awkward interactions with another family, mild overstrain of superpowers, awkward apologies, Edison is blunt as a bowling ball and has no filter because he is four, and Shiv is little better due to past abuse, frustration over solar limitations, and other challenges. On the whole, though, it has a positive tone. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward. This is the second in the beach thread, and you'll need it to make sense of later poetry as well as dialecticdreamer's story "Family Stories."

"Branded in His Memory" is fully committed, so if you pledged money toward that, now is the time to send it (not counting the person who specified a later date of donation). Look on the sale page to see the tally; I had to put it there because the donor comments kind of spread around several posts.

The discussion "Working Around Microphones" has gained a lot of attention. If you're concerned about accessibility and diversity, please check out this list of ideas for supporting everyone's comfort and communication. If you're an organizer, or you know someone who is, by all means print it out and pass it around.

Poetry in Microfunding:"The Inner Transition" belongs to Polychrome Heroics: Berettaflies. Stylet enjoys a shower and Valor's Widow starts cooking. "The Higher a Monkey Climbs" belongs to Polychrome Heroics and has 23 new verses. Pips and Jules discuss what to get for G and Joshua after the fire. "Two Foxes" belongs to Polychrome Heroics: Iron Horses. The Iron Horses tell Kenzie what happened to the gaybashers.

I felt really odd last week, like lethargic and shit. I kept nodding off deeply during the day and having really restless sleep at night. Even Angie noted that I wasn't myself. No idea what is going on, but I don't like it. I've also been strangely dehydrated, drinking tons of water and my mouth and throat still feel dry. Saw my shrink, everything is okay mentally it seems, I see my regular doc in a couple of weeks, so maybe we can get to the bottom of this.

Oh, we went to brunch at The Mint on Sunday. The theme this month was Oktoberfest, since October's theme is clearly going to be Halloween. I had some of the best schnitzel I have had outside Germany, put together with eggs and potatoes for an interesting (and huge) Benedict. Angie had a wurst that looked delicious. And we both had drinks and dessert. ^__^ So a nice end to the week.

Last week was even more summerlike than the previous week. We got up to 90F on the weekend! RIDICULOUS. I wonder if this is what is making me feel so lethargic. Anyway, this week is going to start out hot then finallly cool down into somethimg more fall-like THANKFULLY by Friday. I CANNOT WAIT.

On My Plate:Tags and Other Writins:

A Smile and a Song (Three Wishes)

Where The Gods Live (Three Wishes)

My Favorite Punching Bag (ItNotM) x1

Some Light Research (ItNotM)

Welcome Home (ItNotM)

Putting The Band Together (ItNotM)

All On A Summer's Day (ItNotM)

The Lady in White (ItNotM)

Promises (ItNotM)

Moving Up in the World (EoP) x4

Leftovers (EoP) started

Art:

continue with scribalry practice

Etc:

list stuff on Ebay

reading: A New History of the Picts (still -- I haven't picked it up in awhile XD)

reading: Parsival, or A Knight's Tale

Weekly Things Checklist:

Thing Arted: nothing

Thing Writed: OMG TAGS

Thing Cleaned: dishes and catbox

I have to sew a new dress and pouch bag thing for Coronation in a couple weeks, and practice my Pictish face makeup. XD And of course work on getting my mojo back. I hate when it is too bloody miserable to be creative.

Warning: This poem contains imagery which may disturb some readers. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It takes place during and after World War II. Thus it features genocide, discrimination, extreme violence, death and destruction, killing captive Nazis via superpower, jailbreaking, erotic art, orphaning, traumatic rage, war trials, extrajudicial execution, and other mayhem. Please consider your tastes and headspace before deciding if this is something you want to read.

This poem is spillover from the August 15, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from dialecticdreamer. It also fills the "naked / vulnerable" square in my 7-31-17 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Shiv thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

Warning: This poem contains some touchy topics. Highlight to read the warnings, some of which are spoilers. It features multiple references to past child abuse and neglect, social anxiety, financial anxiety, extreme body modesty, jealousy, shame, sex/gender diversity, creepy mannequins, visible scars from past abuse, unwelcome attention from Dr. G who quickly extrapolates the origin of Shiv's scars, unwelcome touching of Shiv by Edison who is too young to have learned better, lingering awkwardness from Halley's prior violation of Shiv's boundaries, and other challenges. If these are sensitive issues for you, please consider your tastes and headspace before reading onward. However, this is the beginning of the whole beach thread, so you need it to make sense of the later poems and the story "Family Stories" by dialecticdreamer.

mama_kestrel says, "I'll be able to put in $50 on the 29th. Can anyone join me?"

I am willing to extend the quarter-price option for "Branded in His Memory" beyond the sale proper if people have confirmed their intent to sponsor it. These mega-epics are so big, they rarely sell at full price, so it's to everyone's benefit to catch them in a sale. If you're looking to shop in the sale but have not yet done so, here's a great opportunity to get the most bang for your buck. The one person who's seen this piece so far is raving about it.

I finished this earlier in the week, and decided to offer it for the half-price sale since it's so big that it's unlikely to sell for full price.

"Branded in His Memory"Summary: A mass-casualty incident brings Ansel to the Christian Care Rescue Mission in Bluehill. It's an ugly mess, but he does a wonderful job of helping everyone recover -- not just from their fresh injuries, but whatever put them in a homeless shelter to begin with.$1555 lines, was $778, sale price $389, quarter-price $194.50

I'd rather not open another epic for microfunding, but this one is big enough that if you buy the whole thing (or pool with someone to do so) then it automatically gets the quarter-price rate. That's true for any of the other epics that cost $100 or more.

Today is hot, muggy, and sunny as I discovered when I went outdoors to plant bulbs. I wound up watering plants, and only planting the fist-sized purple frittilaria bulb in the purple-and-white garden.

Many of the flowers are drying up, although a few are still blooming. Sedum and goldenrods are flowering vigorously.

Still not much activity at the birdfeeders, but we saw a squirrel doing acrobatics on the hopper feeder and another bird near the fly-through feeder that may have been a phoebe or a flycatcher. It was dark with a white belly, but seemed to have more of a crest than a dark-eyed junco.

EDIT 9/23/17 -- I went back out and planted 12 blue miniature iris. I put 4 each in the purple-and-white garden, goddess garden, and wildflower garden. \o/

I need to get out and gather/redistribute seeds. Many of my wildflowers have gone to seed. :D

Recently I came across a couple of discussions about technology, public speaking, and accessibility. One of them is in access_fandom and links to the other which is a Unitarian-Universalist post. The crux of the matter is that people with hearing impairment often need amplification in order to hear, but not everyone is willing or able to use a microphone. And those groups don't always know about each other's concerns, which causes friction.

Scientists have discovered a geometric shape at the center of reality, whose form defines the behavior of particles. It's a lot simpler than trying to calculate by hand the way those things move. It goes from hundreds of pages of math to one.

Meanwhile I'm laughing my ass off because, well, om mani padme hum. Not the sound of the chant, but it's literal meaning: the jewel in the heart of the lotus. Mystical people have been staring at this thing forever, because A) it's inspiring, B) it's really pretty, and C) when you're out of your body on a lot of other dimensions it tends to be right in front of your face and kind of hard to ignore. Which is okay because A and B. :D Anyhow, quantum mechanics might like to take a look at the prismatic branch of sacred art. Perhaps it will prove inspiring. Because quantum physics is where magic and science meet, which is why it's cool. I may not be able to hack the math, but quantum physics still makes my existential intelligence sit up and go squee.

On the downside, this means people are getting reeeeeaaaalllly close to figuring out graviton technology. This is about as relaxing as realizing that the toddler has just about figured out how to turn on the blowtorch. O_O

Life is full of things which are hard or tedious or otherwise unpleasant that need doing anyhow. They help make the world go 'round, they improve skills, and they boost your sense of self-respect. But doing them still kinda sucks. It's all the more difficult to do those things when nobody appreciates it. Happily, blogging allows us to share our accomplishments and pat each other on the back.

What are some of the hard things you've done recently? What are some hard things you haven't gotten to yet, but need to do?

Today is warm, partly cloudy, and muggy. We went out to the orchard and removed many many field weeds from under the pear tree. It is a bumper year for pears, they are all over the ground already, with plenty left overhead. If I have the energy, I'll go back out later and pick up a bucket of them to make pie filling.

I went to U of I. There were parts of it that I enjoyed, and the culture wasn't that bad. But I can see parallels. For me it was more a matter of looking at the way education was going, and deciding not to get involved in public education as a teacher. It was obviously going down the tubes, and that was decades ago; it's infinitely worse now. So too, many colleges. :/ I couldn't stop it. I could sure get the hell out of the way.

This poem was written outside the regular prompt calls. It fills the "chocolate" square of my 4-1-17 card for the Month of Rainbows bingo fest. It has been sponsored by bairnsidhe. This poem belongs to the Mallory thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

This poem is spillover from the August 15, 2017 Poetry Fishbowl. It was inspired by a prompt from chanter_greenie. It also fills the "food" square in my 7-31-17 card for the Cottoncandy Bingo fest. This poem has been sponsored by Anthony & Shirley Barrette. It belongs to the Calliope thread of the Polychrome Heroics series.

Poetry in Microfunding:"The Inner Transition" belongs to Polychrome Heroics: Berettaflies and has 25 new verses. Stylet enjoys a shower and Valor's Widow starts cooking. "The Higher a Monkey Climbs" belongs to Polychrome Heroics. Pips reveals his attraction toward Joshua Tull. "Two Foxes" belongs to Polychrome Heroics: Iron Horses. The Iron Horses tell Kenzie what happened to the gaybashers. "A Haven in a Heartless World" belongs to Diminished Expectations and is now complete. Read about family in adverse conditions.

So Saturday Mike and I drove allllll the way out to Middle Island NY for the SCA event St Andrews -- more precisely, A Funny Thing Happened to St Andrew on the Way to the Forum, An Investiture. It was called that because the Barony of An Dubhagheinn was investing a new Baron and Baroness, and the Baron's persona is late Roman. The main reason we were going, though, was to see the elevation of our friend Vettorio, mka Eric, into the Order of the Laurel, which is the SCA's highest arts award. He's a scribe who does exquisite work, and well deserved being made a Laurel.

ANYWAY. We got there in time for morning court, when Eric was going to be put on vigil, a day-long period of contemplation and receiving well-wishers and advice-givers. It was very entertaining -- the first snatch-and-grab summons to court I have seen in a long time. Kudos to His Majesty Ioannes for a lovely bit of shtick! He strolled through the audience with a fan (because it was really quite warm and muggy in the hall) until he came up behind Eric. He pretended to talk to someone else, then clapped Eric hard on the back and said "You're coming with me." Classic! And Eric was suitably shocked and surprised.

After court we went over to where Eric's vigil was being held and nibbled on the tasty spread made by his wife Lisa (how he had no clue of anything going on with all that food being prepared, I have no idea) and waited to speak with him. We chatted about persona (I'm going to send some Pictish art refs his way for a scroll) and about apprentices and the relationship between Laurel and apprentice. I think he got something out of it, despite being recently an apprentice himself. ^__^

Mike wandered around talking to people he doesn't get to see very often, and I stayed at Eric's vigil cause it was too warm and muggy to do much else. We left just before evening court, thus missing Eric's actual elevation; it was getting too miserable weather wise and we had a long drive home and were just tired and out of spoons. It was a good event though, and I was happy to see a deserving soul given the recognition he deserves!

Oh! Before we hit the event we went to Wertheim National Refuge in Mastic so Mike could collect the National Parks stamps. Then we went to Fire Island National Seashore and got more stamps, and the most adorable plushie ever for his niece: a plush horseshoe crab! Finally we hit the William Floyd Mansion after Google led us partly astray. (I swear, Google Maps kept sending us on backroads and cowpaths to get from one place to the next all bloody day.)

Summer seems to have come back this past week, no doubt due to the tropical weather elsewhere in the country. Temps were up close to 80 and the humidity was very high. Bleh. This week promises more of the same. BLEH.

On My Plate:Tags and Other Writins:

A Smile and a Song (Three Wishes)

Where The Gods Live (Three Wishes)

My Favorite Punching Bag (ItNotM)

Some Light Research (ItNotM)

Welcome Home (ItNotM)

Putting The Band Together (ItNotM)

All On A Summer's Day (ItNotM)

The Lady in White (ItNotM)

Promises (ItNotM)

Stargazing (EoP) started

Moving Up in the World (EoP) start x5

Three Tribes, One Holt (Oakleaf)

All the Single Laddies (Oakleaf)

Art:

continue with scribalry practice

Etc:

list stuff on Ebay

reading: A New History of the Picts (still -- I haven't picked it up in awhile XD)

reading: Parsival, or A Knight's Tale

Weekly Things Checklist:

Thing Arted: nothing

Thing Writed: OMG TAGS

Thing Cleaned: dishes and catbox and trash and recycling

Tuesday I see my VA shrink, but that's the only thing planned. Gonna try to get some scribalry accomplished -- I have not been feeling it for some reason, but now I am inspired. ^__^

Last time we went to Harvest Market, we picked up a carton of skyr, which is Viking-style cultured milk. It is similar to yogurt, but not quite the same thing. It doesn't smooth out when stirred, but tends to stay chunky, not my favorite thing. It is the sourest yogurt relative I have tasted. :P There are notes strongly similar to sour cream and cream cheese. I do not like it at all for eating by itself. However, it could make an excellent ingredient, for example in cream cheese or pastries. For people who dislike sweet things and find regular yogurt too insipid, try this.

The Youth Villages Continuum Program provides in-home support for troubled youth and their relatives, with the goal of keeping families together while improving behavior. They use growth-oriented approaches such as Collaborate Problem-Solving rather than Applied Behavior Analysis or brute force. Similarly, Lives in the Balance focuses on teaching collaboration to defuse power struggles. This poem was commissioned in honor of an outreach specialist who used to do this work, and is now moving to a desk job in another caretaking context. It's important to cycle out of rewarding but high-stress jobs to something less stressful, so as to avoid burnout. This is like seeing a little slice of Terramagne. Even superheroes need a break sometimes.